Chapter Thirty-Two
Note: This chapter is from multiple perspectives. Pay attention to the transitions!
What would be Day 30 of Quarantine.
Underground.
The Labyrinth.
Jareth
As was tradition, Jareth and Sarah slept separately the night before the wedding, though pre-dawn found him not in his bed, but walking the halls of the castle. His boot heels clicked on the stone floors, and his sighs echoed against the curved walls.
He climbed stairs and stopped at windows at intervals, gazing out over a Labyrinth mostly asleep, all save the firebugs that still braved the chill air. There were fewer of them, but the magic that they used to stay alive was blooming again. Sarah was making this place come alive.
Aurora would damn it, would rot the place from within. The Labyrinth had made that clear not just to Sarah as Jareth himself had been plagued with portents and dreams.
He kept on his silent walk, hands folded behind his back, and smiled to himself, thinking of the precocious teenager who had first entered his world. How she had turned into the fierce, protective woman he was to bind himself to this day.
He was in the gardens when the sun rose, draped in a cloak of glittering black fabric, his stomach a roil of nerves that irritated him beyond measure. It's not as though it will make things that much different, he thought to himself. We were destined to be together.
Though that destiny had only come into fruition mere days earlier, and it had seemed a whirlwind of so many changes. He wanted desperately to make things stop for just a moment, so he could breathe.
There was the soft rustle of cloth against grass, and Jareth half-turned to find Aldric coming toward him. Upon catching his eye, Aldric held out a bottle of wine, already opened, by the neck. "Blessed morning, brother," he said. "You look like you could use this."
Jareth smirked but took the bottle and summoned a goblet to pour into, taking a hearty swallow. "It shows, then?"
"That you're as jumpy as a cat? Yes. The way that you guzzled those spirits alone shows your hand." He laughed a little and asked, "I could bring you something stronger?"
Jareth waved a hand. "No need." There were other things, stronger things, that would help ease him through the day, but he wanted to keep a clear head. He took another gulp of the wine. Mostly. "Is she awake yet?" His brother had not wanted to be alone, for a multitude of reasons, and so had slept on one of the couches in the lower level of Sarah's room last night.
"Not that I know of, but I left only a few moments ago, and the sun is barely risen."
Jareth nodded, a lump forming in his throat as he watched the orange-hued orb slowly creep above the hills of the Underground, gilding them in molten silver. "That was the last night I'll spend as a bachelor," he said, some true trepidation creeping into his voice. "What a life this has become."
"Yes," Aldric agreed. "There is a great deal to preserve and protect, now. More so than either of us have ever had, I believe."
Jareth nodded. "More than I ever dreamed." He cast his brother a wry look. "In more ways than one. I truly did not expect to be sharing so soon, but she is not to be denied."
Aldric grinned. "No. Our Sarah deserves the world."
Sarah
Sarah woke with the dawn, stretching as her stomach gave a little lurch of anticipation.
This was it.
She was going to get married.
Though Jareth and Aldric both had offered to bring her father and stepmother to the Underground, to have them be a part of the ceremony, Sarah was hesitant to allow it. She was already nervous enough with Toby, and he was a teenager that was simply rolling with all this insanity. She could not imagine having her father watch her future husband decapitate a fae queen, and trying to get them away beforehand? It might reveal their plans.
There was so much riding on this day, and even though the Labyrinth brought forth a tray of pastries and another of coffee, she could not touch a single bite, and after an initial sip her stomach gave a hearty lurch. No caffeine either, then.
She did, after performing her morning ritual and brushing her teeth, drink water. Important to stay hydrated when one was staring down regicide and matrimony on the same day.
When peering over the balcony to the living area below her bedroom, Sarah found it empty, crumpled blankets on one of the wide couches the only evidence of Aldric having been there. She tried not to be disappointed, but was also a little relieved. A part of her was screaming with nerves over the question she had yet to ask him.
In her walk-in wardrobe, Sarah found her wedding dress on a standing form, and for a moment she forgot to breathe.
It was absolutely stunning. White and gold, with thin veins of silver embroidery, it echoed the ring she wore on her finger and the pendant around Jareth's neck.
It was an off-shoulder sweetheart, held in place with a nude mesh that had small diamonds sewn into the fabric so she would glimmer as she moved. The bodice was sweeping golden fillagree with a low back, a ballgown skirt spreading from the hips that blended midway down the leg into layer upon layer of long white ostrich feathers, which were also sewn with diamonds to glitter in the lanternlight. The sleeves ended in points that would lay over the back of her hands, and were embroidered with silver branches that met the neckline, bleeding down into the rest of the fabric.
Sarah tilted her head, unsure of when she was supposed to put this on, and who might help her.
As though summoned by her thoughts—and likely they had been—sendings walked from the walls. Three of them, bone-white hands folded in front of them as they bowed their heads, waiting.
Sarah looked between them, then sighed. "I suppose you'll do."
Aldric
When Aldric came upon Sarah's room, he raised his fist and knocked several times. Sarah's voice called, "Come in!" and he pushed through the door.
At first, he did not see her. The main floor was empty, save for the whispering rustle of a soft breeze through the leaves of the aspen trees growing out of the floor. He mounted the steps to the bedroom, and as she came into sight he slowed.
A sending was doing her hair, pulling it into an elaborate updo with golden combs and a tiara of gold and silver, glistening with diamonds. She caught sight of him and grinned, but did not move. "I would come to you but they have me pinned. Literally."
Aldric continued up the stairs and took in her dress, her entire figure and being. A pang went through his chest, and he had a fervent, desperate wish it was he who would be standing at the altar that morning.
"I've been looking for you," she said, her eyes on him but staying still while the sendings fussed with the last touches. "I wanted to ask a favor."
"Anything," he breathed, his knees weak as he came to stand near, the resonance thrumming just under his skin. "You look incredible."
A pretty flush bloomed along her cheeks, and Sarah sighed as she was released from the sendings attentions. She shook out her hands, bare and showing the Labyrinth mark across the back, her engagement ring gone until the ceremony completed in a little under an hour.
"I can't believe this is happening," she whispered, stepping toward him, her gown moving like a dream. "Can you pinch me?"
He grinned at her. "You don't want me ruining an inch of this. What is the favor you wish of me, my love?"
She peered up at him, and her hands twisted before her. "My dad can't be here today."
"I know, pet—"
"I want you to walk me down the aisle," she said in a rush, interrupting him, her color higher now. Her eyes were rimmed in kohl, and they were silvered with unshed tears. "Will you?"
Wordless, he nodded.
Jareth
The musicians were playing a hauntingly beautiful melody, something that seemed at once ageless and yet vigorous, youthful. Jareth had his back to the flower-strewn aisle, contemplating the priestess and her acolytes, when the tempo changed. Became something… perfectly suited to his Sarah.
Gloved hands folded behind his back, Jareth pivoted, slow, and when he lifted his eyes to find her, the breath knocked out of his lungs.
Aldric was walking her down the aisle, as she had mentioned she might ask, but the choice brought murmurs from their guests that were quickly extinguished on a wave of sighs for how beautiful the bride.
Sarah did not wear a veil, but the sendings had done her hair in such a way as combs dripped strings of seed pearls and diamond. Diamonds adorned her throat, and dripped from her ears, so that she looked similar to how he had dressed her not so long ago, at her dressing room in New York.
The gown moved with her, catching the light, the diamonds sewn into the fabric like star fire. He could not see her feet, and she seemed to glide, flower petals scattering in her wake like waves receding from shore.
And then she smiled at him, radiant. Her eyes like gems of their own, and he could hear almost nothing but the roaring of his own pulse in his ears. Not as the high priestess asked who presented this maiden to be wed, and not as her hand was placed in his by the man he thought would be a lifelong enemy.
It was only when she leaned in and whispered, "You're staring," that he came wholly back into the moment.
This felt so much like a dream, and he should know.
Sarah
Jareth looked incredible. It was as though he had on an exact copy of his costume from when they had danced in the ballroom, only remade in gold, silver, diamond, white opal, and pearl. The highlights in his hair were a dark, glittering gold, and gold luster dusted his eyelids and cheeks.
His smile was beautiful. He was so mouth-wateringly good-looking that she near forgot where they were and what they were doing.
And who they were doing it in front of.
As guest of honor, High Queen Aurora sat on the Goblin King's side, the sprite perched on her shoulder. She was dressed in deep hues of blue, a faint smirk on her lips as she looked not at the bride and groom, but at Aldric, who was doing his best to ignore her, gaze on the proceedings.
Jareth squeezed her hands, and she came back to find the high priestess intoning something over them. Of a long and healthy life, of fertility and the many blessings of the holy goddess.
She held his gaze, mismatched eyes shining with adoration, as someone handed him her rings and he slipped them onto her finger, saying as he did, "I, Jareth, the Goblin King, lord of dreams and master of illusion, do take you, Sarah Williams, to be my bride, from this day and to all the days remaining."
The rings squeezed her finger gently as they were placed, and Sarah sighed, taking the twining band of gold and silver that would belong to Jareth and waiting as he gently tugged off his left glove, exposing the Labyrinth mark.
"I, Sarah Williams, the Labyrinth's Champion," she started, feeling breathless but somehow speaking quite clearly. "Do take you, Jareth, Goblin King and lord of dreams, to be my groom, from this day…" she hesitated a hairs breadth, and then smiled. "And to all the days remaining."
The ring slipped onto his finger, and their hands clasped as the high priestess gave a final blessing for their union, and then proclaimed, "They are forever tied, one to the other. Behold the new bride and groom!"
Before Sarah could turn to the guests, Jareth cupped her cheek and tilted her head, bending for a kiss that took her breath away.
Magic coiled within her in a way it had never done so before. Far more solid and reassuring, she had an intrinsic sense of it belonging wholly to her. Their union flooded her with power.
Jareth's eyes were dark when he pulled away at last, to whoops and cheers from the guests. Fae and goblin alike were not shy in their celebrations. Toby could be heard hollering as well from the front row of her side.
Sarah grinned at Jareth, pressing the hand with her new ring set against his chest. "Husband."
"Wife," he growled, words low and just for her.
She shivered, toes curling in her slippers, but smiled wide as he turned them to the assembled. Everyone was on their feet, clapping and cheering, as Jareth's arm went around her waist and squeezed, and flower petals mixed with the odd white feather floated down from the chapel ceiling.
It was every dream she had ever had of a wedding, and she had the feeling that Jareth had planned it exactly so for that very reason. He was a lord of dreams. That he would spin hers into life, after all the promises he had made? It seemed only natural.
But as her gaze went to Aurora and her retinue, Sarah could not help another shiver, this one of anticipation. She remembered the words she and Jareth had spoken just days before.
You're planning to kill her at the wedding, aren't you?
The feast afterward, precious, but yes.
They stood in triumph for the moment, and Sarah was aglow with magic and the sense of the Labyrinth deep in her mind, poised like a cat about to pounce.
She simply hoped it would be enough, in the end.
Aldric
There were many aspects of the plan that Aldric was not privy to, and neither was Sarah from all he had gleaned. Only Jareth knew all the moving parts, and this fact was beginning to grate on the older fae lord.
The guests were trickling out of the chapel and milling about, while he stood closer to the array of shaded pavilions which had been erected in the expansive gardens. Tables groaning with feast foods ringed the space, and several fountains bubbled with various spirits and drinks, crystal goblets arranged at their lips. A dance floor had been erected, the tiles gleaming white in the mid-morning sunlight.
Aldric had slipped out before the others and stood near Ingrid's pool, noticing that the shape changer was nowhere near as friendly to him as she was to his brother. In fact, whenever his back was turned she would splash him from her tail or, he swore, once she spit on him. He was glaring at her, the single braid he wore down the back of his head sopping now. "Damn it, I didn't know," he hissed at her, and moved further away.
Ingrid sent up an arc of silvery water and disappeared further into the depths of her pools.
"We were wondering when we might find you alone," said a familiar voice that made the hair on the back of Aldric's neck stand on end.
He turned to find the sprite standing nearby. From the dusting of magic in the air, it had recently materialized. Glaring, Aldric demanded, "What do you want?"
"Her Grace wishes to speak with you, but since your—" its lip curled in distaste, "Paramour is currently keeping her from coming to you directly, I am here in her stead."
"Are you to do that fancy trick you pulled in the throne room?" Aldric asked, wanting to back away but also against the appearance of giving flight. Especially when among the predatorial sprites, it was a poor idea. "Spare the theatrics and just tell me yourself."
Klothe smirked, but when it next spoke its voice was edged with that of High Queen Aurora. Not a true Speaking, but words that had certainly fallen from her lips, repeated now verbatim. "You were meant to be mine, and so I will offer you this last chance to save yourself and the home you now claim. I will name you consort."
A stone dropped in his stomach. It had been her first offer, long ago.
"Deny me and I will lay waste to your new kingdom. Klothe will tell you what he will do to your pretty whore."
Aldric snarled at the last, unable to help it, heat bursting through his chest.
The sprite was grinning, pointed black teeth gleaming deadly. "I will take her to the flesh market," it said. "It's been a while since a mortal was chained to the square."
His face went numb, and there was a ringing in his ears that made the sprites next words unintelligible.
The flesh market belonged neither to the Seelie or the Unseelie court, and it was there that beings were traded. For sex, blood, death, and power. It was the supposed grand market where the lamia and selkie had been taking Sarah when they captured her.
It was an old place, and wicked, and not for anyone you loved. There were creatures there who would fuck anything and everything, and they did not care if they harmed as they took their pleasures. And for someone to be chained to the square? They would be just so much meat, for anyone to take, for anyone to do with as they would. And they would. Again and again.
Aldric's blood sang, and his heart seized at the thought of Sarah at the mercy of such creatures.
He could not act against Klothe first. It was against the guest rites, and so…
Aldric fled.
He ran so far and fast that he was most of the way to the tree line before the sprite seemed to realize the chase was on, and Aldric at last heard sounds of pursuit.
Grinning, he crashed straight into the forest.
He had lived in the Seelie Court for a long while, and knew the intricate dance of fae politics better than Jareth. He knew that there were rules that simply could not be broken.
If he were to strike against Klothe, it had to be in retaliation, in self-defense. He knew that sprites were predators to their core, and it was for that very reason they were so infrequently at court. Most could not master themselves enough to not take chunks out of a fae—delicious, apparently—whenever given the opportunity.
Aurora's lapdog had risen to prominence by being a ruthless killer only in the right moments. But even it had its limits, and it had long lusted after Aldric's blood.
All these facts flew through his mind as he ran, along with the rules and strictures of guest rite.
Aldric allowed himself to be hunted as Klothe's instincts kicked in, the sprite howling and shrieking with delighted bloodlust.
He knew that the first strike would be to kill. Sprites did not have the option to be anything but perfectly lethal.
So he had to play this right.
Aldric skidded on the animal trail, pretending to stumble, to fall.
Klothe was there, silent now that it was coming in to attack. But instead of landing on the back of his neck like it was attempting, Aldric spun, bringing up his forearm to be in the exact spot his throat would have been that moment.
He still screamed with the teeth shredded through his jacket, his flesh. The creature gnawed at him, blood spurting, its eyes closed in rapture as it attempted to find his jugular. Sprites had a venomous bite that would do its work on him soon, but for the moment it felt as though someone had split open his arm and poured molten metal into it. Klothe burrowed until it hit bone.
Aldric grasped the back of its small head, and squeezed.
The biting stopped instantly as blood and brain seeped through Aldric's fist, the back of Klothe's head a pulpy mess, its eyes fading to a milky sheen.
Aldric threw the corpse away from him, and it hit a nearby tree trunk, sliding down with a sickening, wet splat. He collapsed, cradling his mangled arm, and started to laugh.
One down, he thought deliriously, the fever starting to rage, to make the world swim around the edges. Labyrinth, if you're listening, I could use some hel—
He could not even complete the prayer. Darkness swept over his vision.
Jareth
There was a rumbling sort of warning from the Labyrinth, and Jareth knew that the moment was near upon them. Sarah had a hold of his arm and he felt the jerk as she got a clearer message from their sentient home. Her eyes went as wide as he had ever seen them, and her lips parted. A moment later and she was pulling him away from their guests, despite the murmured protests from the couple they had both been speaking to a moment before.
Sarah waited only until they were just out of earshot before hissing, "Aldric's in danger. You have to find him. He's in the forest," she pointed, the motion sure. "That way."
Jareth kissed her cheek, the urgency of the Labyrinth's warning making him transport himself to the forest where she had indicated, moving at a steady clip until he noticed the sign of a pursuit. They had not been careful, and with the sign being so obvious he was able to pick up the pace, running until he nearly crashed over his brother's prone figure.
It took a moment to see more than just the blood and shredded meat of Aldric's arm, but then he saw the decimated corpse of the sprite at the base of a tree, a smear of black blood corroding the bark where it had touched.
Jareth cursed, hefted his brother into his arms, and transported them both to the hospital wing, shouting for his doctor for the second time in so many days. "Regina!"
The ogre was there in a flash, somewhat harried-looking but otherwise intent upon the patient. She gestured to an operating table, "Put him here."
There were no honorifics at this point. There was no time. Jareth slid his brother's unconscious form onto the metal slab, his pulse in his mouth.
A distant part of him was entranced, fascinated that his own reaction was so visceral.
But this was his only remaining blood relative. Aldric had been many things, but he was still a brother. Jareth clutched at the hand still intact, the one with the Labyrinth brand. "Hold on. Please hold on."
Regina's magic was based on the primordial forces, and Jareth could smell petrichor rise as she cut off Aldric's sleeve and got a good look. She hissed, a melodic curse falling from her lips before she went to work.
She was only thirty seconds into tackling the venom when Aldric's eyes flew open and he took a great, gasping breath. His fever was incredible, baking off him, and the way he arced his back against Jareth's grip must have meant that there was intense pain.
Jareth had assisted in the medical ward often enough to know what was needed, and grasped a marked yellow potion bottle from Regina's tray, ripping off the cork with one hand before tipping the concoction into his brother's mouth.
Aldric tried to spit it out and Jareth slammed his mouth shut, forcing him to swallow. Eyes burned with rage, but none of it seemed directed. No, his brother was more like some kind of feral beast, thrashing against his hold.
Regina was swearing. "Hold him still!"
Jareth released the magic he had been holding back, spindling away for this day. It pressed against Aldric, pinning him down.
Regina worked quickly, and while she went about her business, the acrid scent of medicine and sweet putrefaction heavy in the air, Jareth spoke to his brother.
"You would have loved to see Sarah, the first time she came to the Underground," he was saying. "She pretended not to be entranced, but she was from the first breath. She charmed her way through the Labyrinth. I've never seen anything like it."
He continued on this way for the duration of the procedure, and midway through Aldric's eyes locked on his, awareness swimming in them at long last. When Jareth saw it, he eased the magical restraints, enough to let his brother know he could truly get away if he needed to, but the struggle had ceased. It was only the involuntary motions of a body in some discomfort.
The potion would have eased a majority of the pain, and helped bring back the lucidity now visible. Jareth smiled a little as the danger seemed to pass. "You were attacked first, I see."
Regina was using her magic to sew up the wound, but there would be a mark for some time, perhaps even a scar. The bite of a sprite was no small thing. It had already mostly decayed the flesh on his arm and wrist by the Jareth had gotten there. That there would be a scar was better than there being no arm at all.
Aldric licked his lips and rasped, "Klothe broke guest rites."
There was more of a story there, he could see it in the weight of his brother's gaze, but now was not the time. Instead, he said, "Thank you."
Eyes widened by both ogre and fae as Jareth acknowledged the debt between them, but it was only right that he should do so.
The path was open now. Klothe was not only an individual, it was a representative of Aurora precisely. That it had attacked a member of Jareth's court—not just a member, but one of the heads—meant guest rites were wholly stripped.
Aldric gave a slight, strained laugh. "You're not going to believe it, but I have something else for you. Consider it a wedding present."
Jareth frowned a bit, but then Aldric sat up and reached into his pocket to extract a letter, holding it out.
It had a broken royal seal upon it.
Jareth's eyes widened. "What have you done?"
Aldric grinned, glancing over to Regina. "I owe you a debt, for saving my life."
The ogress waved a wide hand in dismissal. "It is quite literally my job, and my calling. But try to stay out of here for a few days, all of you, if you please?"
Jareth ripped open the letter and scanned the scrawl of ink upon the parchment. His chest squeezed at the few lines written there. This changed so much.
Aldric slid from the operating table, standing near him and clasping him on the shoulder. "We need to get you back to your bride."
Sarah
For the first time since coming into the chapel and seeing a sea of faces, Sarah was grateful to them all. Though there were dignitaries and representatives from multiple kingdoms, and though they all wanted to speak to her, and though the weight of it would have tortured her in months or years previous, today it was a balm and a shield.
Aurora was trying to get her alone, she knew, and Sarah had the feeling that if she succeeded then all hell would break loose. There were only so many smiles she could plaster on her face when around that vile creature.
The Labyrinth rumbled a little, the ground trembling with a minor quake that rattled the crystal glasses and set the guests to tittering.
"Does that happen often?" a fae lord asked, twirling the end of his blond handlebar mustache, sounding bored with the entire thing.
Sarah beamed at him, noting that the High Queen was nearby, speaking to another clump of courtiers. She kept Aurora in her periphery. It would not do to have her sneak up. "I haven't lived in the Underground for long," she hedged, not wanting to say what she was hearing. The Labyrinth was sending out warning cries. Something was amiss, and though she smiled and charmed, her heart was skipping every once in a while, fear a cold lightning in her veins. "When I lived in the Above, we learned that anywhere near mountains and hills," she gestured at the many hills ringing the Labyrinth. "Was susceptible to earthquake."
The fae chortled. "Not so, here. Faerie does not shift around like some nervous lad on a first hunt. Our High Queen wills it so."
"Yes," Aurora said, sliding into the conversation. "All save this little pocket here. Tysell, how are you? Would you mind fetching me a drink?"
Shit, Sarah thought, as the fae lord bowed and moved away, and she found herself in a pocket with just the High Queen. She was glad her posture was already perfect, and could not help the sense that she was being inspected. Now more than ever.
The new core of magic within her stirred.
"You are a conduit," Aurora stated, and several of the nearby guests reduced the level of their voices. Subtly, but this conversation was not private. "I thought Faerie had reclaimed all the touched who would matter."
"Is that so?" Sarah managed to sound both bored and pleasant, unwilling to rise to the bait that she was, somehow, unimportant. She knew better. "I confess I still wish to understand more about all of this."
Aurora took a slight step toward her, and it took every inch of will Sarah possessed not to back up. "Do you know why you're touched? Who in your family made the deal that brought you into being?"
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. "I had never thought of it," she said, voice lowering.
Of course she had thought about it, wondered, but it seemed like a mystery that might never be solved.
Aurora smiled like the snake she was. "I confess I wondered, so I asked Faerie. Do you know what it told me?"
She wanted to touch the tattoo on her shoulder and get Jareth back here, now, but Sarah could not think how to do it without showing her hand. More and more she felt like some trembling prey before this woman. Everything she was screamed predator.
Swallowing, Sarah was beyond grateful when Tysell returned with the High Queen's champagne, and one for her as well. She took it with what she hoped was an easy smile. "Jareth told me that he selected only the finest vintage in the cellars for our wedding feast. Please," she lifted her glass. "Will lead us in a toast, your majesty?"
Her smile had never left, but if anything it turned even more venomous. She tapped a long, lacquered finger nail against the lip of her glass, and it rang clear, stopping the conversation that flowed around them until all eyes were on Sarah and the High Queen.
Aurora did not lift her gaze from Sarah for a moment. "Drink, my fellows! We are here to celebrate a mighty union. The elusive Goblin King has found his match. And he resonates with her, it is said, and for that alone we must say, hail!"
"Hail!" cried the surrounding fae and other denizens of the aristocracy. Glasses were raised high, and then everyone tipped back, drinking deep. Sarah joined them, taking a more demure sip, knowing that alcohol went to her head with a quickness.
Aurora tipped back her glass, grinned, then leaned forward enough that she could whisper to Sarah, "You may have won yourself a king, but you will never have what is mine."
Heat pulsed down her spine, and she felt that magic within her begin to uncoil, like a sleepy serpent who had noticed a nearby threat. Not taking her eyes from the High Queen, she said back, not bothering with being quiet, "Aldric will never be yours."
Clusters of gasps, and the tinkling of broken glass from somewhere deeper in the pavilion.
Sarah did not know how she had come to stand so close to Aurora, but she could sense the heat of the woman, and see the triumph gleaming in her dark eyes.
She was fast, but Sarah had enough new strength and speed that she had time to stumble back, so instead of grasping her throat, Aurora's nails merely scratched against it. Still, where the nails raked the skin of her neck burned.
Sarah immediately reached for the tattoo, shouting toward Jareth, I need you, now!
But Aurora was not content with a single strike. She pursued, coal-black eyes gleaming with malice. When she released the strength of her power as High Queen, Sarah was flattened to the ground, the guests crying out and breaking into runs, or some disappearing entirely, others backing away.
Sarah, however, was pinned. Magic bore down on her like the force of some great storm, and yet Aurora's gait was easy, slow. "I was hoping you would say something stupid," she said in a melodic, gentle voice that should never have belonged to someone like this. "I wanted this chance."
Jareth and Aldric were suddenly at the edge of the ring of guests, both of her lovers taking in the situation within a blink. They burst into motion, Jareth going for her while Aldric lunged for Aurora, blade in hand. He was covered in blood, one sleeve off his jacket completely missing and his braid long since untangled.
The High Queen saw him coming, and raised a hand.
Power hit him, too, and Sarah could see the fear, the utter panic, that bloomed on his face. She remembered their whispered talks in the dimness of the night before, of the night in the cabin, and that power within her came fully awake.
Jareth's hand was on hers, and when he pulled she was able to rise against the beat of the magic that Aurora was pummeling them with. The High Queen bared her teeth at them. "You think to deny me him? To deny me anything? I am your Queen! You will bow to me in all things."
Yet they stood against her, the two of them, and as they did Jareth reached down and helped Aldric to his feet. The magic continued, a deluge of it unlike anything Sarah had experienced save that moment in the catacombs of the castle. In the room of mirrors.
Yet what they had summoned the night before, and her own power, that little core of magic that had settled when she and Jareth became husband and wife, could withstand it all. And she sensed the tendrils of it reaching her lovers, strengthening them so they stood united against her, the three of them with their hands linked.
Aurora screamed in rage, and it transformed her face in an instant. She was like a wraith or a banshee, the shriek such that Sarah's ears rang and she screamed right back. "Go to hell!"
This time, when Aurora came for her she did not see the movement. She might not have moved at all, but transported herself.
Hands latched around her throat, and Sarah's eyes widened, the tendons in her neck groaning under the pressure, her air cut off instantly.
Aldric
The moment Aurora touched Sarah, everything became crystalline clear.
The Labyrinth was there, somewhere in the back of his mind, and he sensed the moment it sent the weapon toward him. One of the ones Sarah had imbued the other day.
It was almost comical, how like it was to the dagger he had envisioned having the last time Aurora took her pleasures upon him. Slim and lethally sharp, it appeared in his free hand, his other still linked to Jareth.
They both let go of the other, both lunged for Aurora in one instant.
There was a flash of weapon in Jareth's hand, as well, but Aldric was focused in on one thing. That long, slender throat, a smirking look on that twisted face.
Aurora was so intent upon strangling Sarah that she did not notice the threats coming for her.
Jareth got there an instant before Aldric, the short sword plunging through the High Queen's corseted stomach, the punch of the pommel against her abdomen staggering her backward, her hold on Sarah's throat slipping away.
And Aldric was there, grasping the braid at the back of neck and pulling the instant before—
"No!" Aurora thundered, and the power of Faerie beat out of her like the force of an explosion.
But it did not matter. Not when his aim was true, and the power bolstering him from the Labyrinth, from the ceremony beneath, and all that had occurred the last few days bolstered him. Kept his arm steady, the movement never faltering.
The dagger plunged into the soft skin beneath her chin and slid through bone like butter.
He gave a hard twist. Heard and felt the crack as steel split skull.
The High Queen's eyes were wide in disbelief. And the power gushing from her ceased so sudden that the momentum of Aldric's attack brought him down on top of her, his face inches from hers.
Silence fell so complete that the absence of noise rang, high-pitched, in his ears.
Then Sarah was coughing, great gasping pants, and Aldric released his hold on the dagger at long last, turning away from the monster who had hunted him for centuries, and to the woman who had brought him out of that hell.
Jareth was helping Sarah to a seat but she was waving him off, gripping his arm hard to steady herself. "Aldric?" she rasped. "Is she dead?"
He was at her side, bloody fingers hovering over the marks on her throat. She was red and bruised, the marks stark against her pale flesh. He wanted to kill Aurora all over again for this. "Yes," he said, nearly unbelieving. "The High Queen lives no more."
"What have you done?" screamed one of the guests, perhaps one of those Aurora had brought with her. He semi-recognized the voice.
Aldric did not bother to turn to the crowd, not as his brother stepped forward, taking a letter from inside his jacket. Unlike him, Jareth was spotless, save two spatters of blood on his cheek. A deadly reminder.
"I have here a royal pardon," he said, his voice threaded with enough power to be heard by anyone who had not fled. Only half the guests remained. "In addition to, Aurora broke guest rites directly by attacking my bride."
Sarah's eyes were wide, travelling from Jareth to Aldric, where they stuck for a moment. She reached up and touched his cheek, then brushed fingers through his hair.
Jareth was still talking, but all he could hear was her as she asked, "Are you alright?"
His head shook minutely. She nodded in response.
"Go to your rooms, have a bath and change. I will be with you as soon as I can."
He pressed a kiss into her palm, bowing to her. "Thank you, pet."
Jareth had this well in hand. Aldric had given him all the tools he needed, and the Labyrinth had provided the power.
He still gave his brother a thankful nod before departing, transporting himself instantly inside his suite at the castle.
Jareth
Jareth was surprised to find that Aldric needed the time away, considering all his brother had been the suave and conniving courtier for so long. Perhaps things had changed in more ways than one, when it was he who was taking command of the diplomacy.
"Please," Jareth said, the hands he raised to the guests bare. He could see the glyph darker now than it had ever been, solid and real. It made him pause for a moment before addressing them further. "You all bore witness. High Queen Aurora attacked my bride and broke guest rites, not even an hour after her retainer the sprite did the same with my brother, lord Aldric."
"She's dead!" wailed someone he could barely see, their head bowed as they shook.
"Is she truly?" asked a fae with blond hair, his expression more curious than anything.
Their eyes locked, and Jareth gave a nod. "She is. You can all feel it, can't you?"
There were murmurs and some other cries, but Jareth noted more relief than anything among the guests that remained. Even those she had brought with her seemed to be standing taller, looking lighter.
"You have a royal pardon?" the blond fae asked.
Jareth held out the paper scrawled with the prince's signature and stamped with the royal seal. He had barely believed it when Aldric handed him the letter earlier, but now he allowed it to be passed about, so that everyone could see.
The bearer of this letter has received a royal pardon for any events occurring on the eve of the full moon in the month of Samhain.
It was a sweeping pardon, and one he was still unsure how Aldric had secured. His relationship with the price, Aurora's cousin, must have been deeper than Jareth knew.
He summon Regina to check Sarah's throat, to ensure there would be no lingering damage. The ogre used some of her magic to speed the healing, and his bride gave a grateful smile as the pain eased. There had been red gouges where the High Queen's nails had bit deep, and scratches from an attack prior to his arrival.
Jareth could not believe how near a thing it had been. Aurora had possessed immense strength. It was pure luck that she had not managed to snap Sarah's neck before Jareth and Aldric reacted.
The thought was enough to set him to a fine tremble, and he put an arm around her waist, assuring himself that she was alright.
Sarah's voice reached his mind a moment later. I'm fine, but I do need to check on Aldric soon. I think this shook him more than he expected.
Slipping his hand against the owl tattoo on his forearm, Jareth responded. Just so long as you come back and save me from these jackals.
These are your people.
Yours too, now, precious one. You will not live a small life in the Underground.
Sarah
Aurora's body was taken to the morgue in the depths of the castle, not far from the hospital suite, and the blood spilled cleaned, so it looked as though nothing at all had happened.
And yet something had happened. Something massive, which the Labyrinth in the back of her mind was rejoicing to have found come to pass.
Sarah circulated among the guests until the prince arrived. He had been on his way, but once the mantle of Faerie passed to him in whatever mechanism the magic of the world had, he had been able to transport himself directly instead of coming the long way.
Prince Idris was tall and imposing, but had an easy, warm smile despite that his eyes never seemed to join in. Sarah hoped that they had not just replaced one monster with another, but when both his warm hands enveloped hers, she could not help but smile back to him.
Idris leaned forward and whispered to her, "I had suspected there was something dark in Aurora's nature, but please express my deepest regrets to your paramour. What happened should never have been allowed."
Sarah nodded, her smile slipping. "I appreciate that. Thank you for the pardon."
He nodded and moved to Jareth, speaking in low tones. Sarah reached for her tattoo and alerted her husband—what an incredible thing, that's what he is to me now—that she was going to find Aldric.
Bring him back if you can, was his response, and she—
Found herself, in a blink, within Aldric's rooms.
They were not far from her own, closer than Jareth's tower was, and overlooked a central courtyard that grew some of the food for the royal kitchens. The windows were all thrown wide, and there was the crisp scent of dormant vegetation coming through it. Though there had been plenty of suites with larger, more numerous rooms available, Aldric had taken one with a modest-sized bedroom attached to a sitting room, his bathroom also a fairly small affair.
She could hear the bath draining as she stood there taking in the space, and a moment later Aldric's voice sounded from the bathroom door. "Hello, pet."
She turned to find him in a long black robe, belted at the waist, his hair wet and dark. His eyes were intent upon her, and the next—
There was a part of her still scandalized, that she could feel so much for both men. But when he crossed the few steps to her, she was there to meet him, and they crashed together.
She kept it to kisses and touches, and he let her.
They started fierce and hot, but soon she was backed against a wall and he was gently stroking his tongue against hers, heat pooling in her middle. "I was so afraid," he said, in between. "When she touched you, I thought—"
"It's okay," she whispered, mouth at his throat, trailing kisses down damp, clean flesh. "It'll be okay."
Aldric sighed and held her tighter. "I believe you. For once, I believe you."
Aldric
The banquet went on most of the day and into the night, the dancing too. For all that something had happened here which would change the course of Faerie history, everyone seemed to sense that it was for the better.
King Idris took Aldric aside and spoke with him at length about the events that had precluded the events. Aldric had the sense that if there had been any weakening in his tale, any sense of falsehood, that Idris would have taken it upon himself to avenge his cousins death.
As it was, the new High King clapped Aldric on the shoulder and said loud enough to be heard by anyone nearby, "I would welcome you back to court, lord Aldric, and have your counsel if you would be willing to give it."
Bowing at the waist, he said, "Perhaps you would welcome the ambassador to the Goblin Kingdom?"
King Idris roared with laughter and clapped him on the back. "As you wish. We will have much to discuss, in coming years."
Most of all, though there were many who vied for his attention, Aldric watched Sarah and Jareth. They opened the dance floor with a sweeping waltz that near brought tears to his eyes for how they gazed at one another.
As the sun tumbled down, as night fell and lights bloomed, brought forth by magic, Aldric felt the presence of the Labyrinth in the back of his mind.
Home, it said.
And he agreed.
Author Note:
*waves*
Hi!
This was up quicker than anticipated, but now that we're nearing the end it just feels right to keep going and going and...
So, we have one more full chapter, and then the epilogue, and... that's it!
Thank you to all of you who have been commenting, leaving kudos, etc., it has been really inspiring to get those messages and notifications. I cannot even begin to describe.
Thank you to all of you who have been keeping up with this story despite the random and chaotic upload schedule.
I really appreciate each and every one of you.
I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a contribution in the little box.
Cheers,
~CrimsonSympathy
